1Start
Zacharias and Elisabeth kept the commandments for years while the blessing they wanted most stayed out of reach (Luke 1:6–7).
2Read Together
Zacharias was a priest who served in the temple in Jerusalem. Elisabeth came from the family of Aaron, Israel’s first high priest (Luke 1:5). They had no children, and by now they were both old.
Luke 1:5–7 · King James Version
5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
3What It Teaches
Luke calls them “both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). In the next verse he says they had no child. Luke sets those two facts side by side, and neither one cancels the other.
In their culture, having no children brought shame. Elisabeth called it her “reproach among men” (Luke 1:25). Her faithful life shows that a hard trial is no sign that God is displeased.
Elder Neil L. Andersen described how faithful people wait.
“We feel the Lord’s approval for our meek willingness, and we await the promised peace the Lord will send in His chosen timing.”
Zacharias kept serving in the temple when his turn came, and the couple kept praying. When the answer finally came, the angel said, “thy prayer is heard” (Luke 1:13). The Lord had been listening all along.
4Talk About It
Zacharias and Elisabeth kept the commandments while they waited for years. What is something our family is waiting for, and what can we keep doing while we wait?